IN MEMORIAM

Anthony Harding Horan, 80, died of cancer Aug. 13, 2020, at his home in Fresno, Calif., with his wife, Marcia Morrison, and son, Frank Horan, by his side. Tony was born in New York City to Francis Harding Horan and Elizabeth Rogers Horan in 1940. He spent his early years in the city and in Cornwall, where the family had a house. He attended St. Bernard’s, St. Paul’s, Dartmouth and Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons. He spent two college summers pumping gas and fishing at Yellowstone National Park. During the second summer, he and his twin sister, Elizabeth, summited the Grand Teton on a guided climb. His climbing career peaked in 1967 when he was chosen as the expedition MD on the first American ascent of Mount McKinley’s Cassin route. Despite the fact that their climb took place during the largest storm in North American history, all 14 expedition members reached the summit. While in medical school at Columbia in 1962, Tony worked as a technician on a summer project for Roger Guillemin, MD, and Andrew Schally, Ph.D. Fifteen years later, that project earned Guillemin and Schally a Nobel Prize for the structure of luteinizing hormone releasing factor. Tony also spent five months on research at the Weizmann Institute in Israel. Rather than pursuing a Ph.D. career, Tony aspired to become an MD scientist like his grandfather, John Rogers Jr., who graduated from Columbia P&S in 1892 and became a pioneer in the treatment of thyroid disease. After graduating from medical school, Tony completed a general medicine internship and a general surgery internship at St. Luke’s Hospital, followed by a urology residency at Columbia Presbyterian Medical Center, both in New York City. His training was interrupted by the Vietnam War and he served as an Air Force general surgeon in Cam Rahn Bay during the Tet offensive of 1967-1968. During his urology residency, Tony performed the first voluntary vasoligation ever performed at Columbia Presbyterian on a charity patient. He won first prizes for papers on human spermatozoa motility before establishing a private practice in New York. In the 1980s, Tony joined the VA system as a urologist in Walla Walla, Wash., and later transferred to the Veterans Hospital in Fresno. While at the VA, he published a paper on mean time to death from prostate cancer, which contested what he considered a world-wide epidemic of radical prostatectomies. This topic was the subject of his 2009 book, “The Big Scare,” which was revised and republished in 2017 as “The Rise and Fall of the Prostate Cancer Hoax.” After retiring from the VA system, Tony established a private practice in Evanston, Wyo., and later in Delano, Calif., where he had the opportunity to aid many adult and pediatric patients with untreated congenital malformations. He contributed to medical science for 30 years as an active member of the Western Section of the American Urological Association, during which he gave 59 conference presentations and had 49 peerreviewed publications. Tony was a surgeon and he was also an artist. He was a member of The Century Association of New York, where he exhibited paintings, and he joined community chorales in Walla Walla and Fresno. He and his wife, Marcia Morrison, were avid backpackers in the Western U.S., particularly in the Sierra Nevada. During the winter, Tony loved skiing, both downhill and cross-country, with any family members who could keep up with him. Until his last months of life, Tony enjoyed tennis, golf and reading Thomas Piketty’s “Capital in the Twenty-First Century” in French. In addition to his wife, he is survived by his son, T. Bramwell Welch-Horan, MD, and daughter-in-law, Jessica Merrill Horan; his grandchildren, Charlie, Oliver and Phoebe Horan of Houston, Texas; and his younger son, Francis H. Horan of Fresno. He is also survived by his brother, John Rogers Horan, and sister, Honora Horan, of Washington and Cornwall, respectively; and his twin sister, Elizabeth Horan Edgerly of Rhode Island.

Dr. Shankerman age 58, of Fresno, California passed away on Saturday, September 19, 2020. Robert was born April 10, 1962. 2020. Robert was born April 10, 1962. Robert Shankerman was the chief medical officer at United Health Centers of the San Joaquin Valley, in charge of all of the doctors at its medical facilities. Shankerman spent five weeks battling the novel coronavirus, including two weeks in the intensive care unit at St. Agnes Medical Center before passing away Saturday, September 19. He was 58. “His death is a significant loss to the entire UHC Community, including his colleagues, coworkers and friends who are now grieving his loss,” UHC said in a news release. It was colleagues, coworkers and friends who are now grieving his loss,” UHC said in a news release. It was not immediately known how the longtime doctor contracted the virus, though his brother said Shankerman sometimes saw patients who were suspected of having COVID-19. Shankerman had been UHC’s Chief Medical Officer since 2014, responsible for clinical operations at 21 health ceters in the central Valley. UHC serves more than 125,000 patients as their primary health care in Fresno, Kings and Tulare counties. Many of his patients were migrant workers. “He dedicated his entire adult life treating people who were part of underprivileged communities,” said the doctor’s brother, Stephen Shankerman. “He worked 14- to 15-hour days. When people didn’t show up for work, he volunteered. “He played hero till the very end.” Shankerman received several high ratings for his services and care based on various online reviews, including 4 1 ⁄2 stars (out of 5 stars) on Webmd.com. Among his accomplishments at UHC since 2014 was establishing the UHC/UCSF Family Practice Residency Program at the Parlier Health Center, where Shankerman also saw patients twice weekly. Shankerman recruited, trained and placed medical practitioners as the organization transformed and expanded from 12 to 21 health centers in 2020. “As a voracious reader and student of current medical practices,” UHC said of Shankerman, “he was educator, mentor and tutor to 155 medical professionals, including recent graduates from numerous residency programs, national and international transfers and those senior members of the UHC medical staff.” UHC also described him as a “passionate and vocal advocate for taking appropriate preventative safety measures related to contracting the virus.” “He quickly implemented numerous protocols and practices across the organization to protect staff and patients alike,” UHC said. Shankerman received his medical degree from Tulane University and his post-graduate education from the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minn. The Mayo Clinic has annually been ranked on the nation’s best hospitals honor roll. Shankerman was previously affiliated with the UCSD Medical School in San Diego as associate clinical professor of medicine and previously served as chief medical officer for Clinica Sierra Vista. He was a diplomat for the American Board of Internal Medicine and certified as an HIV specialist. In 2001, Shankerman received the Physician Recognition Award from the American Medical Association. He is survived by his father, Floyd Shankerman: sister Cindy Loewenberg; brothers Steven Shankerman and Jason Shankerman; and life partner, Regis De Barros who is also a physician with United Health Centers. Dr. Shankerman was a member of the Medical Society for 11 years.

Allen passed on September. 1, 2020 after a 12 day battle with Covid-19. He was born on December 9, 1928 in Honolulu, Hawaii, and was the son of Allen S. Mau and Winifred C. Mau. He celebrated his 13th birthday watching the attack on Pearl Harbor from the roof of his family home. He graduated from Roosevelt High School and attended the University of Hawaii for two years and then transferred to the University of Michigan and graduated from UM Medical School in 1954. Allen then took a rotating internship at the Cook County Hospital in Chicago and entered the USAF in 1956. He served at the USAF 5th AF hospital in Nagoya, Japan, followed by a year at Hickam AFB in Honolulu. Following his discharge he moved to Fresno and opened a family practice. He served on the staffs of Saint Agnes Hospital and Fresno Community Hospital, and was Chief of Staff at Fresno Community Hospital in 1971. He was a diplomat of the National Board of Medicine, a recipient of Family Board of Medicine, and a lifetime member of the California Academy of Family Practice. After his retirement from active practice in 1995 he continued to do volunteer work at the Poverello House Clinic. He is survived by his wife, Jeanne Lee Lowe and her children Larry, Lester (Vicky), Linda (Kerry), his daughter Alyson Lee (Bert), his son, Allen D. Mau, and his beloved cat, Runt. At this time there will be no public memorial service. Following cremation, ashes will be interned in Honolulu, with his father (after 85 years), his mother (after 40 years) and his sister, Gladys Wee Evenson (after 6 months). Dr. Mau was a member of the medical society for 49 years.